‘“At times I wasn’t playing well and the other two guys were playing good,” Vanek said after practice Monday in the Amherst Pepsi Center. “Then maybe I had a few better games. Right now, we’re just finally playing all three on the same page, playing well at the same time and that makes a difference.”’

‘“We talked about that a little bit,” center Paul Gaustad said after practice in the Amherst Pepsi Center. “If it was like [Sunday], would we play it? All of us are like, ‘Yeah, let’s play it. Let’s not cancel it. Let’s play.’ I’d rather it be colder than warmer for the Ice Bowl. That’s why they call it the Ice Bowl.”’

'"In juniors between 15 and 18 years old, I figured out – for whatever reason – that somehow had that talent to shoot a little harder than the other kids," said Kotalik. "That's what's followed me and gone with me my entire career. It got me to the NHL level."'